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 Gravel vac/ water change
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| Author | Topic: Gravel vac/ water change |
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Alen Member  Posts: 41 |
posted 01-13-2004 06:24 PM
 
Hi I'm a little new to this hobby and i was woundering how offen you should vaccume the gravel and do water changes. I have a 10 gal tank and so far I have decided to do 20% water changes once a week for two weeks then vaccume the gravel the next week and repeate. Is this the correct way to maintain my tank? thanx for the help! IP: Logged |
kc5gvn Moderator Posts: 806 |
posted 01-13-2004 09:30 PM
Hi Alen, That will be fine as long as when you do your water changes you siphon the water from the bottom of the tank to remove debris from the gravel. IP: Logged |
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ahoycatfish Member Posts: 151 |
posted 01-14-2004 04:41 PM
I have a 20 gallon and I change 25% of the water once every week and a half or so and then I use a gravel vaccume every few days to make sure that it stays clean. IP: Logged |
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angelicdeity New Member  Posts: 6 |
posted 01-14-2004 09:22 PM
To keep you tank going properly you should change about 20% water every week, or two weeks. You shouldn't Gravel Vacum too often (i.e. every few days) as this destroys bacteria living in the gravel which keep water quality up. The first approach seems best. Change water everyweek and vacum every two weeks. Or so. The smaller the tank the more maintianence, change water more often and stuff. As waste or Toxic chemicals build up quicker. IP: Logged |
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puff Member Posts: 98 |
posted 01-31-2004 01:46 PM
i have a 20gallon tank and i never change the water exept i add water when it gets low so i guess that the same. what type of fish do u have? if they are not aggressive then get some bottom feeders. i have two little things with whiskers(i dont know the name) and a red taled shark and the gravel never gets dirty.if u have a well ballanced tank then it shouldnt be necessary to clean it all the time  but this is my opinion, see what works best for uIP: Logged |
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katanas_edge Member Posts: 266 |
posted 02-02-2004 07:47 AM
Adding water is NOT the same as changing water. Nitrates, metals and other contaminants do not evaporate with the water. These contaminants have to be removed with the water siphoned during a water change. If water is not removed, you can up with excessive algae, increasingly hard water and toxicity. If you maintain a lightly salted aquarium (ie: 1tbsp/10gallon) you should only add salt when water is removed as the salt concentration will eventually increase as well. IP: Logged |
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angelgirl2003 Member Posts: 59 |
posted 02-03-2004 06:16 AM
Allen: What kind of fish do you have in your tank? That is a very important question to find an answer to your question. IP: Logged |
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t_chelle16 Member Posts: 501 |
posted 02-03-2004 10:38 AM
The amount and frequency of water changes should be dictated by your water prameters. You'll need to buy test kits for ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte. In a properly cycled tank, ammonia and nitrIte should be 0ppm. They are both toxic to fish so anything above 0 will poison your fish and long term exposure will kill them. So if your tank is regitering either one, you should do frequent water changes to try to keep them as close to 0 as you can. The end product of the nitrogen cycle is nitrAte which in low levels, isn't as toxic to fish. The only ways to remove nitrAte is by having live plants and doing water changes. You should do enough water changes to keep the nitrAte level below 20ppm. -Chelle IP: Logged |
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katanas_edge Member Posts: 266 |
posted 02-03-2004 11:41 AM
I agree with the principle of t_chelle's post, however, for the sake of understanding the process I have to add a few notes. Nitrate is not actually the end product of the cycle in nature. Being cyclical it goes round and round. Nitrates are broken down further into atmospheric nitrogen which can then be fixed through various means as organic nitrogen again. As well, nitrates can be converted to nitrites etc, etc.(hence the need to be careful with fertilizers near drinking sources). For aquariums, typically the filters are aerobic only (bacteria living in the presence of oxygen). For the step from nitrates to atmospheric nitrogen we need anaerobic conditions. With adequate plants and anaerobic filtration nitrates can be reduced to extremely low levels as well. It's usually not worth the effort though. As for the cycle "completing" this is the stage at which production and consumption of ammonia reaches a balance. Changing lots of water with low levels of ammonia or nitrites present might interfere with the ability of the bacteria to efficiently establish that balance and create a cycle hang. If levels are becoming sufficiently toxic, then there may not be an option - but generally the tank can take care of small spikes. In the meantime, to reduce toxicity you can lower the temp. or PH slightly. IP: Logged |
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t_chelle16 Member Posts: 501 |
posted 02-03-2004 11:52 AM
Good points. True about the nitrogen, but like you hinted at, most aquariums won't develop that stage of the cycle since they don't have anaerobic conditions. And if the tank is cycling with the fish in it (ie there is ammonia and/or nitrIte present), IMO it is far better to do water changes and slow the cycle down than risk having the fish suffer/die from ammonia and nitrIte poisoning. -Chelle IP: Logged |
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katanas_edge Member Posts: 266 |
posted 02-03-2004 02:17 PM
"If levels are becoming sufficiently toxic, then there may not be an option - but generally the tank can take care of small spikes. In the meantime, to reduce toxicity you can lower the temp. or PH slightly." I agree. I was referring to the kind of situation such as adding a new fish to a community that has already completed it's initial cycle. A small rise in ammonia and nitrites might be detected, but shouldn't rise to the point of toxicity or last long enough to produce chronic effects. Of course, if for whatever reason levels are reaching dangerous amounts water changes are justified. In this case, there will likely still be enough ammonia/nitrite left for the bacteria to continue growing exponentially. [This message has been edited by katanas_edge (edited 02-03-2004).] IP: Logged |
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t_chelle16 Member Posts: 501 |
posted 02-03-2004 02:34 PM
"I was referring to the kind of situation such as adding a new fish to a community that has already completed it's initial cycle." Ah. Gotcha. -Chelle IP: Logged |
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Alen Member Posts: 41 |
posted 02-03-2004 03:39 PM
Hey thanks you guys for all the help. Now if I could only understand what you just said.......lol. thax a lot ~Alen IP: Logged |
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t_chelle16 Member Posts: 501 |
posted 02-03-2004 08:23 PM
Basically, you need to buy test kits for ammonia, nitrIte, and nitrAte. Do enough water changes to keep your ammonia and nitrIte at 0ppm and nitrAte below 20ppm. -Chelle IP: Logged |
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Alen Member Posts: 41 |
posted 02-04-2004 07:41 AM
Thank you once again!!! Now that I can understand!! ~Alen IP: Logged |
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